Holding and releasing mechanism for spiral binder applying machines



H. A. SI'CKINGER 3,486,537 RELEASING MECHA Dec. 30, 19 9 r NISM FORSPIRAL CHINES DER APPLYING MA .HOL-DING AND v v BIN Filed Aug. 21, 19675 Sheets-Sheet 1 f v i' i fl r yal' 4 59 2;

177' aim 72 30, 1969 H. A. SICKINGER 3,486,537

HOLDING AND RELEASING MECHANISM FOR SPIRAL BINDER APPLYING MACHINESFiled Aug. 21, 1967 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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HOLDING AND RELEASING MECHANISM FOR SPIRAL BINDER APPLYING .MACHINES 5Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 21, 1967oooooooooooooJJfibooqooonooooooooooooooooooooo United States Patent O3,486,537 HOLDING AND RELEASING MECHANISM FOR SPIRAL BINDER APPLYINGMACHINES Hans A. Sickinger, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., assignor t HansSickinger Company, Pontiac, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Aug.21, 1967, Ser. No. 662,013 Int. Cl. B42b /12; B21f 3/02 US. Cl. 14092.945 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spiral binder applying machinehaving two guide roller supports between which a pack of sheets isclamped, the spiral wire being guided by slots in the supports. Thestationary support has a pair of hooks pivotally actuatable betweenupper supporting positions engageable with looseleaf holes in the packand lower releasing positions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relatesto binding machines for paper sheets, and more particularly to machinesin which a spiral wire is fed through holes in the sheets, the sheetsalso being provided with larger holes for alternate use in looseleafform.

Description of the prior art SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The presentinvention contemplates the use of a pair of hooks pivotally mounted onthe fixed guide roller support for movement between an upper supportingposition and 'a lower releasing position. In the supporting position,the hooks will pass through larger holes in the paper sheets which areprovided for looseleaf use. In releasing position the hooks will permitthe bound pack to drop by gravity. An operator may thus be picking upthe next pack of sheets while the bound pack is being released. Thehooks are actuated by a fluid operated reciprocating motor connected toa rocking bar on which the hooks are mounted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view inelevation of a binding machine incorporating the principles of thisinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view in elevation showing the guide rollersupports and one of the pivotally mounted hooks together with a portionof its actuating means;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the rear guide roller support and thehooks together with their actuating means;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of portion of the constructionshown in FIGURE 3, and

FIGURE 5 is a view of a portion of one of the paper sheets showing theholes for the spiral binder and the holes for looseleaf binding.

Patented Dec. 30, 1969 ICC DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Themachine is generally indicated at 21 and comprises a frame generallyindicated at 22 adapted to rest on the floor. This frame has left handand right hand upright side plates 23 and 24 between which are disposedthe main machine components. These side plates are secured together byappropriate cross members such as the upper member 25, indicated inFIGURE 1. A wire guide tube 26 is secured to the upper portion of frame21 adjacent the left hand end thereof, this tube being horizontallydisposed and adapted to guide a wire 27 that is fed from a spool (notshown) to the rear of the machine. A pulley 28 is secured to plate 23forwardly of tube 26 and aligned therewith. From pulley 28 the wire isled downwardly toward a wire coiling tool 29.

Coiling tool 29 is of conventional construction and need not bedescribed in detail. A number of interchangeable coiling tools areprovided for different spiral diameters, and the coiling tool isremovably mounted on a coiling tool body 31 by a knurled nut 32. Thecoiling tool has a mandrel surrounded by a slotted member, the wireentering the slotted member at the left hand end thereof and beingcoiled by the mandrel, exiting at the right hand end of the tool in theform of a spiral wire which, as it turns, will pass successively througha series of holes in a package of sheets and covers 33 (FIGURE 2) whichare held in alignment therewith by means described below.

Coiling tool body 31 is shown as being mounted on left hand side plate23 by an adjustable means, including an adjustable member 34 andadjusting screw 35, so that it may be adjusted to different positionsfor different sizes of spiral wires.

The means for clamping pack 33 in position and guiding the spiral binderincludes a forward guide roller support member 36, a rear guide rollersupport member 37, a forward guide roller 38 rotatably mounted withinmember 36 and a rear guide roller 39 rotatably mounted within member 37(FIGURE 2).

Guide roller support members 36 and 37 are of elongated shape and haverectangular cross sections. Rear guide rollers support member 37 ismounted on a pair of brackets 40 and 41 attached to side plates 23 and24 respectively. A bar 42 extends between these brackets behind support37. The left hand end of member 37 is adjacent the exit of coiling tool29 and its right hand end is adjacent plate 24.

Front guide roller support 36 is mounted for swinging movement on arockable shaft 43 which is disposed above and parallel to coiling tool29, and extends between side plates 23 and 24. A sleeve 44 is fixedlymounted on shaft 43 and carries a pair of arms 45 and 46 at oppositeends thereof, member 36 being secured to the outer ends of these arms.Member 36 is swingable between a retracted position shown in FIGURE 1,and a clamping position shown in FIGURE 2. In its retracted position,member 36 is spaced forwardly from member 37, giving sufficient spacefor the operator to place the perforated edge of a pack 33 against theforward face of member 37. When in its clamping position, member 36 willengage pack 33, clamping it against member 37. While in this position,wire 27 will be fed from tool 29 through perforations 46 in the edge ofpack 33. A shoe 47 (FIGURE 2) disposed over the exit of tool 29 willprevent undue upward movement of the spiral wire as it leaves thecoiling tool.

The construction of guide roller support members 36 and 37 is describedin detail in the aforesaid copending application. Briefly, forwardmember 36 has a flat rear- Wardly facing surface 48 interrupted byvertical slots 49 communicating with a bore 51, Forward guide roller 38is rotatably mounted within this bore and is adapted to drive the spiralwire as it passes through the perforations 46. Member 37 has a flatforwardly facing surface 53 interrupted by vertical slots 54 mating witha bore 55 which rotatably supports rear guide roller 39.

The present invention concerns the means for initially supporting andreleasing pack 33. The invention is particularly useful for relativelythick packs which, in addition to the series of holes 46 for the spiralwire, has three larger holes 58 and 59 for alternate use of the pages inlooseleaf books of the ring type. As seen in FIGURES 2, 3, and 4, theinitial supporting and releasing means comprise a pair of hooks 61 and62 beneath rear guide roller support 37 and extending forwardlytherefrom adjacent the left and right hand ends of the support memher.The hooks are of sufiicient length to enable them to pass through holes57 and 59 of pack 33, and the ends have curved upper surfaces 63 withthe radius conforming to that of the spiral wire, so that when pack 33hangs on these hooks, holes 46 will adjust themselves to this curvature.The hooks also extend at an angle corresponding to the pitch of thespiral wire.

The rearward portions of hooks 61 and 62 are secured to a shaft 64 whichextends beneath and parallel to bar 43. The opposite ends of this shaftare rotatably supported by a pair of brackets 65 and 66 secured to bar43.

An arm 67 is secured to shaft 64 at the intermediate portion thereof andextends downwardly as seen in FIG- URE 2. A piston 68 is pivotallysecured to the lower end of this arm by a pin 69. The pinion is carriedby a trunnion 71 which is pivotally supported by a bracket 72 extendingdownwardly from a platform 73, which is secured to bar 43 by bolts 74. Areciprocable fluid actuated motor 75 is carried by trunnion 71 andoperates piston rod 68.

The arrangement is such that when piston rod 68 is in its extendedposition, as shown in FIGURE 2, hooks 61 and 62 will be in theirsupporting position. When in this position, the upwardly facing surfaces76 of these hooks will engage the underside of support 37. Clearancerecesses will be formed in support 37 to permit the hooks to be raisedto this position.

When in their supporting position, hooks 61 and 62 will be adapted toreceive a stack 33, and in particular to enter the holes 57 and 59thereof, as seen in FIGURE 2. The positions of the hooks are such thatwhen the stack is so supported apertures 46 will be aligned so as toreceive the spiral wire. Forward guide roller support 36 may then bebrought to its clamping position, slots 49 being provided with clearancerecesses to avoid interference with the hooks.

After the spiral wire has been fully fed and severed, forward guideroller support 36 will be brought to its raised position as shown inFIGURE 1. Piston rod 68 may then be retracted to the right from itsFIGURE 2 position, rocking shaft 64 counterclockwise and thus alsorocking hooks 61 and 62 counterclockwise. The hooks will then releasethe wire-bound stack 33 so that it may drop by gravity. The operator maythus be taking a new stack to place on the hooks while the bound stackis being released.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of theinvention disclosed are well calculated fulfill the objects abovestated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible tomodification, variation and change without departing from the properscope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for binding a stack of sheets of the type having a rowof relatively small perforations for receiving a wire binder and atleast two relatively large perforations spaced inwardly from the smallperforations for use in looseleaf form, a rotary coiling tool forfeeding a spiral wire through said small perforations, a fixed support,a movable support, said supports having facing surfaces, the surface onsaid fixed support being vertical, the movable support being movablebetween a retracted position and a clamping position in which saidsurfaces are parallel and an edge of said stack is clamped between saidsurfaces, means for initially retaining said stack in position to beclamped, said last mentioned means comprising a pair of hooks pivotallymounted below said stationary support and extending forwardly therefrom,the hooks having an upper retaining position spaced below the axis ofsaid rotary coiling tool a predetermined distance such that when therelatively large perforations of an unbound stack are placed thereon thesmall perforations will be in line to receive the lower portions of thespiral wire, whereby the latter may be fed through the stack and themovable support retracted while the hooks are still in their upperretaining position, and means for rocking said hooks from said upperretaining position to a lower releasing position in which a bound stackmay be removed from said books,

2. The combination according to claim 1, further provided with clearancerecesses in said movable support for permitting the movable support tobe moved to its clamping position without interference by said hooks.

3. The combination according to claim 1, said hooks being secured to ashaft, means rotatably supporting said shaft beneath said stationarysupport, an arm extending from said shaft, said means for rocking saidhooks comprising a reciprocable fluid motor connected to said arm, andmeans supporting said motor adjacent said stationary support.

4. The combination according to claim 1, said hooks having upwardlyfacing arcuate surfaces for supporting said stack, said arcuate surfacesbeing so shaped as to cause said relatively small apertures in the stackto conform to the shape of a spiral wire binder passed therethrough,said hooks extending at an angle relative to said stationary supportcorresponding to the pitch of said spiral wire binder.

5. The combination according to claim 1, the fixed support having arotatable guide roller therein, slots extending from the surface of saidfixed support toward said guide roller, said slots receiving a spiralwire fed from said coiling tool, said means for rocking said hooksbetween said two positions comprising a fluid actuated reciprocablemotor connected to said hooks, the hooks extending at an angle relativeto said stationary support corresponding to the pitch of said spiralwire, the curvature of said hooks being such that the relatively smallapertures in a stack retained thereon will conform to the curvature ofsaid spiral wire.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,166,519 7/ 1939 Catini i140--92.93 2,532,443 12/ 1950 Freundlich 14092.3 2,638,609 5/1953 Penner14092.93 2,961,012 11/ 1960 Freundlich 140-923 3,251,3 5/ 1966Freundlich -923 3,378,046 4/ 1968 Ostermeier 140-92.93

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner E. M. COMBS, Assistant Examiner US.Cl. X.R. 140-9293

